# What's with all the "Unknown" users?

**URL:** <https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [June 14, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166 "2013-06-14T04:24:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MarkLoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@MarkLoit](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/MarkLoit)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/1 "2013-06-14T04:24:55Z")

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Suddenly I feel like I’m in one of Schrodinger’s experiments. Recently a whole bunch of comments have been posted with user names&nbsp; of “Unknown”. Is this a bug in the forum software, or are users deliberately [or possibly inadvertently] obscuring their names. Either way, it makes it hard to decipher who ls saying what when you have a conversation between a bunch of Unknowns.

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**Author:** ![AndrewHudson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@AndrewHudson](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/AndrewHudson)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/2 "2013-06-14T04:37:42Z")

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I think it’s a bug in the forum software. I created an account with the intention of posting my name (Andy Hudson), and my last message showed up with “Anonymous” as the author. Might be good to sign your posts for now.

-Andy Hudson

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**Author:** ![MarkLoit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@MarkLoit](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/MarkLoit)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/3 "2013-06-14T04:47:47Z")

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Interesting. I just noticed in another thread where a user showed up with their username in one post, and then a few posts later had the name of “Unknown”, but the avatar remained the same, which seems to support the bug theory. Hope they fix it soon, as it is making things confusing.

Mark L

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**Author:** ![sandtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@sandtz](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/sandtz)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/4 "2013-06-14T05:48:56Z")

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@Andy Hudson

> I created an account with the intention of posting my name &nbsp;and my last message showed up with “Anonymous” as the author.

Same for me.

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**Author:** ![PaulHerbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@PaulHerbert](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/PaulHerbert)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/5 "2013-06-14T12:37:38Z")

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Yes - it’s a software bug. Had to re-enter my profile details earlier today after posting a comment which showed up as Unknown.

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**Author:** ![RupertEnberg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@RupertEnberg](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/RupertEnberg)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/6 "2013-06-14T13:21:45Z")

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Perplexing as to why there was a need to develop an “original” forum when there are seriously tried, tested and proved examples out there. I want Formlabs to put all their effort into the machine rather than spending time rectifying forum bugs etc. With most of the conversation on this forum being form users and soon to be users, hopefully, it is starting to feel like an opensource community. Don’t remember seeing anything official from Formlabs since the update to PreForm on the 3rd. PLEASE!!! Keep us in the loop.

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**Author:** ![Hirudin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hirudin](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Hirudin)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/7 "2013-06-14T19:26:29Z")

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My thoughts exactly Rupert.

If I hire a carpenter I don’t want to find out I’m paying him to forge his own nails.

You’re “Formlabs” not “Forumlabs”. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

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**Author:** ![SamJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@SamJ](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/SamJ)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/8 "2013-06-14T21:33:17Z")

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Thanks, all, for keeping tabs on us. If you’ve logged out and then logged back in, you’ll notice that we’ve resolved the “Unknown” user accounts issue. &nbsp;Your account will default to displaying your first and last name.

If you’d prefer to use another nickname, &nbsp;head to the gear in the upper right corner of your screen (see attached), and select, “View Profile.” That should open up another window, where you can select “edit” in the upper right and change your display name. That will change the name displayed on all of your posts.

@Rupert @AngryHuman We’re with you. We’re firing on all cylinders over here.

Sam

![](https://support.formlabs.com/attachments/token/dsnnblgdv2t592b/?name=Screen+shot+2013-06-14+at+5.21.33+PM.jpg)

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**Author:** ![MaximLobovsky](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/maximlobovsky/32/19620_2.png) [@MaximLobovsky](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/MaximLobovsky)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/9 "2013-06-15T00:49:13Z")

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@Rupert @Hirudin, we agree completely that it’s silly to reinvent the wheel; we try very hard to stay focused on what we do best. &nbsp;That’s why we are using a hosted customer support service (Zendesk) which includes this forum functionality. &nbsp;But, as Sam mentioned, we know it’s not great just yet, so we are working on it.

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**Author:** ![RupertEnberg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@RupertEnberg](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/RupertEnberg)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/10 "2013-06-15T00:54:27Z")

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Good to hear Maxim. Look forward to the next significant updates in any area.

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**Author:** ![Hirudin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hirudin](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Hirudin)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/11 "2013-06-15T21:59:07Z")

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Is there any chance that you’ll choose to use a different forum software? The issues listed in this thread aren’t the only problems.

Problems that I see…

1. No PMs

2. No way to edit posts other than the OP

3. No way to quote another post

4. No BB code

5. It apparently doesn’t use cookies (if I close my browser (the newest Firefox) I have to log in again - this basically means I don’t post as often as I normally would)

6. It’s difficult to tell which threads you’ve participated in - most forums have a little icon to denote thread in which you’ve replied

7. No search

8. Threads are not paginated

9. No way to report comments to moderators (I’m glad the spammers haven’t found this place yet)

10. No user stats - a quick glance at the post count and join date can be valuable clues to how much stock you should give a post

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**Author:** ![Hirudin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hirudin](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Hirudin)\
**Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/12 "2013-06-15T22:11:37Z")

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(A few of these are reiterations of complaints posted to my “This ‘forum’ software sucks!” thread…)

1. posts aren’t numbered

2. no way to “like” posts other than the original post (related to #10)

3. (also related to #10) no user info page - it can be helpful to see a user’s prior posts

4. no thread view counter

5. It can also be helpful to see when users are online and if they’re viewing a particular thread

I’m also not a fan of the layout. I personally prefer the normal internet forum layout (username and stats in a column to the left of the comments).

Sorry to enumerate these like this, but I feel like the thread I started a month ago was glossed over.

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**Author:** ![Komy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/komy/32/10068_2.png) [@Komy](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Komy)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:41am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/13 "2017-06-29T10:41:42Z")

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Can somebody tell me how to change Username ?!

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**Author:** ![Frew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Frew](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Frew)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/14 "2017-06-29T16:13:57Z")

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Send me a DM and I can change it for you! That said, changing your username can break references to your current username.

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**Author:** ![Komy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/komy/32/10068_2.png) [@Komy](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Komy)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 11:42am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/whats-with-all-the-unknown-users/166/15 "2017-06-30T11:42:58Z")

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never mind (this word is written separate…) I will leave it like this I though it is possible in settings. Tnx anyway 🙂
